The MV Butiraoi is believed to have sunk in the Pacific with 88 people on board

Twenty-two school children on their way to start a new term are among those feared to have died on a ferry missing for 12 days between remote islands in Kiribati.

Ten primary school children were among the 88 on board, as well as 13 high school students. One 14-year-old girl was among seven survivors rescued in the central Pacific on Sunday, from a wooden dinghy that had no engine, water, food or radio.